Garnishments

Garnishments

A garnishment is a post-judgment collection process whereby a judgment creditor may levy against a portion of a judgment debtor’s wages or bank accounts.

Before a garnishment can be filed in the Civil Division, the judgment must be docketed in the Arlington Circuit Court Land Records Division for a period of 21 days. If the judgment was not entered by the Arlington Circuit Court, there is a statutory judgment docketing fee depending on the type of judgment (Abstract $10 / Foreign $25). Once the judgment is recorded in the Land Records Division, it is assigned an instrument number. The date of the original judgment and instrument number must be clearly stated on the Suggestion for Summons in Garnishment form.

Required Documents:

Request for Hearing/Exemption Claim (Form DC-454) – one original plus five copies

A business size envelope addressed to the Judgment Debtor, affixed with First class postage.

Filing and Service Fees:

Please refer to the Civil Filing Fee Calculation for garnishment filing and service fees. All fees must be paid by cash, check, money order, or credit card (4% fee applies to all credit transactions). Checks should be made payable to: Clerk of Circuit Court.

Return Date:

You must set a hearing return date on the Garnishment Summons. The return date for the Garnishment hearing must be set no more than 90 days from the date of filing, except when the garnishment is a wage garnishment, which requires that a hearing be held within 180 days of the filing date. Garnishment returns are heard on the Friday Motion’s docket at 9:30AM.